Shoshan's Journey Starts

Extract 5 A Journey

Shoshan sat once more in the warmth of the late afternoon sun, resting after her studies and the successful work of the previous evening. Hasina walked over to her. "The Pharaoh has been murdered." Hasina watched shock spread across Shoshan's face."How … how did it happen?""Both the Pharaoh and his Queen have died. We will hear in time that the deaths were through illness; but Katesch is sure they were poisoned."Shoshan sat upright on the cedar bench and closed her eyes; she took deep, slow breaths. Gradually she brought her shaking under control and sat as motionless as a statue."Shoshan, Treasure,” said the young woman, "there’s no point. You will not be able to connect with Katesch from here. We’re too close to the priests of Set and she’ll hide herself from both them and us for a few days.""But you spoke to her Hasina, you just said so. What’s to stop me?""She connected with me only for a few moments. I mostly saw her message as pictures rather than words. She informed me of all I needed to know, then she drew the veil around herself."Shoshan wiped a tear from her eye with a brisk movement. "Will she be safe?""She is the head of our Sisterhood. Those who know us little but fear us much, are convinced we are magicians. You know we are not and never could be, but someone like Katesch can hide in time's doorways and move through time's corridors. Even the most powerful of her enemies won’t find her if she decides to remain hidden.""Is she coming back?" "The whole of Egypt is at risk, and Katesch is one of the few who have the power to ensure the Dynasties unfold as has been foretold. She’ll do what needs to be done."The younger priestess nodded, the shadows from the leaves on trees across the courtyard playing on her face. She wore no ceremonial makeup today but her eyes could still be startling in their directness. She looked at Hasina and said,“There’s something you haven't told me."Hasina nodded. Not much could be hidden from a Hearer, even by someone as gifted as herself. "You’ll need to leave at once, sweet sister. It’s no longer safe for you here. Soldiers are marching. We can hear the blood lust in their minds. Our skills are no match for a direct assault at this time. Something happened when you found the boy, something or someone broke in, wounding little Merit. They discovered we’d forged a connection with the End Times. You are the first link in that chain of gold and the Red King is the last. We must get you to safety. And for him, we must offer prayer."The young priestess nodded, and half closed her eyes to look towards the red disk of the setting sun. Shoshan had only seen thirteen summers and remained far more a young girl than a young priestess. Yet her slight shoulders now carried a great responsibility. Like most of the Sisters of the Feather she could ‘hear’. Like her sisters, this had drawn her to the service of the goddess Maat. But Shoshan alone could navigate these doorways of time from first to last. Even Hasina lacked this ability."I will need the chair," said Shoshan. "Without it I cannot move my mind down the rivers of time. I just lose myself.""I know, sweet one," said Hasina, "the chair is very special, but it is not unique. Two were made, and a third that is no chair, but is Osiris's own sarcophagus."Shoshan frowned. "I thought only one chair had been made and that it needed to be here, in Ta-Opet."“That’s what most priests believe also," said Hasina. “There’s another chair carved from different rock. It’s kept safe at the Hall of Records.""I didn't know," said Shoshan."It is a secret well kept from those who would seek to control the destiny of Egypt and the times beyond our time," said Hasina, moving over to her young friend. She placed her hands on Shoshan's shoulders."Sho-sho, these times were foreseen. We are moving from the age of Garden of the Gods to the dark time of the desert of men. It has to be so. We are at that moment when time itself changes."Shoshan stood and walked around under the trees, circling the bench and her friend. "Changes from what?""From the rule of Osiris to the misrule of Set. It is the way of things. Even our Pharaohs foresaw that they might die, but couldn't use that knowledge to avoid their destiny. That is the reason Katesch travelled to the south of Egypt last month. She urgently needed the counsel of her King and Queen and she wanted to see for herself what the Brotherhood of Set had planned. She found out more abruptly than she expected.""What is she going to do now?""She’ll travel north, Shoshan, and so must you. She’ll find out if it is safe for you to go to The Hall of Records or whether the hand of Set has reached into that sacred ground as well."Shoshan frowned again, as she absorbed how her life would now change. "And if the Hall is not safe?""We believe it will be, but not all of the area around. You need to be close to its influence to speak inwardly to Katesch. The dark brethren will be watching out for you. They know now what you can do.""How do they know? We have kept all of this secret.""Yes, but not secret across all time. As soon as you sail the waves of time, others can see what you do and try to stop you. One such stood near your Red King. We don't know how he found out, but he did. That was why we broke the communication so he couldn't trap the boy and locate you."Hasina stood up and put her arms around the younger girl. "Come on my little Lotus Flower, we need to get you ready for your journey."*The small, dirty craft bumped against the quay. Shoshan grimaced as she surveyed the cramped boat. She placed her belongings with care, avoiding the water sloshing around the bottom of the hull. Dressed as a boy, with a loose fitting cotton top and a crude kilt of coarse material, her long dark hair had been well hidden under a grimy headscarf.The boat bobbed up and down on the canal, the flickering light of the torches barely reaching the top of the mast. Shoshan and Hasina awaited the setting of the sun, so the boat could slip out from this underground waterway and join the other traffic on the river. "It's time," said Hasina, hugging Shoshan again. "May Maat watch over you on this and all your journeys."Shoshan looked up at her friend. "You can travel time, Hasina. Have you seen how this works out?"“I’ve walked beneath the stars on the Plain of Time, little one, it's true. But some things are veiled and some things are like the tumbling of a rock down the hillside, they can go this way or that. I pray for your safe arrival, because that is what I believe it will be." She smiled with much more confidence than she felt.The sailor called from the boat, "Everything is stowed; we must go.""Yes, Captain," said Hasina. The round shouldered man, whose physical bulk dominated the slim boat, beckoned to Shoshan. His craggy face remained unsmiling. Hasina turned back to the young priestess."Here," she said, “I’ve a gift for you."She gave the girl a package wrapped in cloth. Shoshan opened it with care and studied the embroidered feather of a priestess of Maat, picked out in dark green against the dove grey of the cloak. She looked up at the young woman and made to give it back."This is your cloak, the cloak of a full priestess," Shoshan said."It's my cloak, you’re right. But it’s going to one who has earned the right to wear it. It will keep you warm in the chill of the desert and its blessings may keep you safe." She gently pushed the package back towards Shoshan. "Put it safely in the boat and wear it when you travel on your own. There will be no value in disguise at that point."Shoshan wobbled on the small gangplank before stepping into the boat. "Careful girl, careful," said the Captain, as Shoshan stumbled and nearly lost her balance.The boat eased out from the dock and Hasina admired the skill of the captain, pushing the large paddle at the back, and propelling them towards the great river. They disappeared into the gloom, as they moved out into the current of the river. Hasina knew they’d be safe for a while, on this overcast night. If the 'Captain' could not get Shoshan to safety then no-one could.She shivered as she remembered a vision of Shoshan transfixed by a spear, pinning her to the wood of a temple door. She murmured a prayer of hope that this future wouldn’t come to pass.Shoshan is not a mere rock on a hillside. She is wise beyond her years. May Maat watch over her.

In the next chapter Shoshan faces perils on the Nile ...To read on click button